Adam Boqvist is about to get his first taste of playoff hockey in North America.
The highly-touted Blackhawks prospect is set to help his London Knights contend for an Ontario Hockey League championship. The defenseman’s club clinched the top seed in the Western Conference and will therefore begin a first-round playoff series with the Windsor Spitfires on Friday.
London actually finished second overall in the league standings, meaning they’ll have home-ice advantage throughout the postseason, barring a final round series against the Ottawa 67s.
Key to their success will be Boqvist’s ability to remain fresh and effective for another two months. Keep in mind, the OHL regular season is far longer than he’s used to, having come up through the Swedish system. On top of that, he also suited up for his country at the World Juniors during the holidays, meaning he’s been part of more than 60 very competitive games this season.
The way he’s kept up his offense during his rookie season with the Knights has been encouraging, though. Here’s a look at his final numbers in 54 appearances, and where Boqvist ranked among OHL defensemen in those categories:
- Goals: 20 (2nd)
- Primary assists: 22 (9th)
- Primary points: 42 (5th)
- Total points: 60 (6th)
- Points per game: 1.11 (5th)
- Primary points per game: 0.78 (3rd)/
In 5-on-5 play, Boqvist’s numbers hold up quite well. He ranked sixth in primary points (22) and in a tie for fourth in primary points per game (0.41).
The one area where there’s room for immediate improvement is his shot rate, as Boqvist ranked 13th after averaging 2.76 shots on goal per game. The league leader among defensemen, by comparison, was Boqvist’s London teammate, Evan Bouchard (4.47).
Bouchard, in fact, ranked first among defensemen in primary points per game this season with 0.89. He, of course, was selected 10th overall by the Oilers in 2018, two spots behind Boqvist.
These “Killer B’s” are as good a defensive duo as you’ll fine around the OHL, and will be heavily relied upon by Knights head coach Dale Hunter.
“Evan Bouchard, he’s the captain of their squad and played NHL games this year. Adam Boqvist was simply amazing with a 20-goal effort this season,” Sportsnet’s OHL Insider Sam Cosentino recently said on Hockey Central Tonight. “He got off to a bit of a slow start, took him a little while before he got organized, but then he started to get on fire.
“Thirty-six goals between the two, over 100 points between the two players, so they’re going to be able to create some offense from the back end. But those two are also very capable defenders, so there’s a lot to work with for Hunter on the back end.”
That complimentary view of his defensive game is nice to hear, as the learning curve in his own end has really been the downside to his OHL rookie season.
Keep an eye on fellow Chicago prospect Mackenzie Entwistle and the Guelph Storm. If the favorites all advance, the Knights would be set to host Guelph in the second round.
For now, here’s the opening round schedule:
London Knights (1) vs. Windsor Spitfires (8)
Game 1, Fri., March 22 at London – 7:30 p.m.
Game 2, Sun., March 24 at London – 2 p.m.
Game 3, Tues., March 26 at Windsor – 7:05 p.m.
Game 4, Thurs., March 28 at Windsor – 7:05 p.m.
Game 5, Fri., March 29 at London – 7:30 p.m.*
Game 6, Sun., March 31 at Windsor – 2:05 p.m.*
Game 7, Tues., April 2 at London – 7 p.m.*
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